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267Socrates, Piety, and NominalismSkepsis: A Journal for Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Research 20 216-221. 2009.The argument used by Socrates to refute the thesis that piety is what all the gods love is one of the most well known in the history of philosophy. Yet some fundamental points of interpretation have gone unnoticed. I will show that (i) the strategy of Socrates' argument refutes not only Euthyphro's theory of piety and such neighboring doctrines as cultural relativism and subjectivism, but nominalism in general; moreover, that (ii) the argument needs to assume much less than is generally thought,…Read more
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33Review of Myth and Metaphysics in Plato's Phaedo by David A. White (review)The Thomist 56 (4): 726-732. 1992.I review White's account of the swan song, of Socrates' last words, and of the importance of myth in Plato. Against any account of myth as a remedy in the nature of rational argument, I defend Hegel's account that myth addresses a less-than-fully-rational part of the soul.
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299Review of Le Philèbe de Platon: Introduction à l’Agathologie Platonicienne (review)Ancient Philosophy 29 (1): 212-216. 2009.
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33Death Is One of Two ThingsAncient Philosophy 11 (1): 35-45. 1991.This paper defends Socrates' argument that death is one of two things against standard objections.
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63Review of Ancient Concepts of Philosophy, by William Jordan (review)Ancient Philosophy 13 (2): 467-470. 1993.
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394SocratesWiley-Blackwell. 2009._Socrates_ presents a compelling case for some life-changing conclusions that follow from a close reading of Socrates' arguments. Offers a highly original study of Socrates and his thought, accessible to contemporary readers Argues that through studying Socrates we can learn practical wisdom to apply to our lives Lovingly crafted with humour, thought-experiments and literary references, and with close reading sof key Socratic arguments Aids readers with diagrams to make clear complex arguments
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74Plato's Aporetic StyleSouthern Journal of Philosophy 27 (4): 539-547. 1989.I describe an aporetic structure found in certain dialogues and explain the structure by showing how it serves, better than expository writing, the pedagogical goal of avoiding giving readers a false sense of knowledge in producing understanding of a philosophical account.
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5Hoffman on Kripke’s WittgensteinPhilosophy Research Archives 12 177-182. 1986.Paul Hoffman argues that Kripke’s Wittgenstein fails in his solution to his own sceptical paradox. I argue that Hoffman fails to see the importance for Kripke’s Wittgenstein of the distinction between agreement in fact and judged agreement. Hoffman is right that no solution to the sceptical paradox can be based on agreement in fact, but the solution of Kripke’s Wittgenstein depends upon judged agreement. An interpretation is given: by ‘judged agreement’ Kripke’s Wittgenstein does not mean unders…Read more
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392Socrates, Wisdom and PedagogyPhilosophical Inquiry 31 (1-2): 153-173. 2009.Intellectualism about human virtue is the thesis that virtue is knowledge. Virtue intellectualists may be eliminative or reductive. If eliminative, they will eliminate our conventional vocabulary of virtue words-'virtue', 'piety', 'courage', etc.-and speak only of knowledge or wisdom. If reductive, they will continue to use the conventional virtue words but understand each of them as denoting nothing but a kind of knowledge (as opposed to, say, a capacity of some other part of the soul than the …Read more
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53Dramatic Prefiguration in Plato's RepublicPhilosophy and Literature 26 (1): 75-83. 2002.After defining dramatic prefiguration, I show how (1) the initial meeting between Polemarchus's party and the smaller group of Socrates and Glaucon prefigures the Republic's theme of how to install the philosophical element in its proper place as ruler in the soul; (2) the relay race of torches carried on horseback prefigures the theory of the soul as tripartite, containing reason, spirit, and appetite; and (3) the opening image of Socrates descending to the Piraeus prefigures the descent of the…Read more
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23Review of David N. McNeill, An Image of the Soul in Speech: Plato and the Problem of Socrates (review)Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2010 (6). 2010.